Do ya see it? Do ya see it??

The Pillow Pod in its natural habitat.

Like two peas in a Pillow Pod

These two have quite a connection

Can you find the hidden wires?

Have a seat, make yourself comfortable!

Hey, all you people whining about how "not thin" the LG Chocolate is - take a look at the luscious models from Retrobrick, retailer of vintage mobile phones. For around $100, you can get a true classic: the Motorola DynaTAC, the first commercial cell phone sold in the US. With eight hours of standby time and half an hour of talk time, it measured 13" x 1.75" x 3.5".

Retrobrick sells a slew of other landmark phones, too, such as the Motorola MicroTAC (the first flip phone, inspiring 70% of the phones sold in the US today), the legendary StarTAC and the original analog Nokia cellular phone.

There's only one problem, though. While these phones could still theoretically work on analog networks in the US, according to Verizon, the FCC requires that all new phones activated today have the new E911 emergency calling functionality. Obviously, these phones don't, so carriers won't activate them. Spoilsports. Still, at prices as low as $10 each for old-school phones, they'd make a lovely ornamental gift for your favorite geek.

Are you the life of the party? An attention seeker? Trying to score big with the ladies? Then brace yourself for the next big thing to hit your belt buckle. 

I first have to start by saying that techie belt buckles are pretty common. First, there was the Cassette Belt Buckle, which lets you wear real cassettes around your waist, such as Milli Vanilli or New Kids on the Block. Second, is the Pocket Plasma Belt Buckle, which made my 10 Strangest Back-to-School Gadgets & Gear list. It's a flat panel disk with a plasma light that responds to touch, voice and music. And how can we forget about those Scrolling LED Buckles?

But this is the first digital belt buckle I've seen that will keep you staring at waist level. It's called the egokast: a media player that lets you display video on your belt. It features 320x240 pixels, a 3.5-inch color LCD display, stainless steel belt mount case, and supports 2GB SD memory cards. The player itself is removeable--letting you watch videos, look at photos, or listen to MP3s--and weighs about 5.4 ounces.

You can upload your own video to the egokast, but if you catch people watching while walking down the street, you only have your self to blame! You can also choose from the "fragment" samples if you don't want to showcase your home videos.

Battery life lasts for about 4 to 5 hours, and the recharge time takes about 3 hours with the included AC adapter. Also comes with a USB cable and a 512 MB memory card.

The egokast sells for $289.

[via Gizmodiva]

Imagine playing Halo, and feeling the sudden jolt of a bullet impact... or running downfield in Madden 07, and feeling your body rock as a linebacker plows into you... or playing Call of Duty, and experiencing the rumble of a nearby grenade explosion.  HoMedics, maker of numerous massage products (cushions and mats, people!) claims the new iCush can make these experiences a reality.

The iCush is a portable massage cushion made to vibrate in sync with your video games, movies, or music. Just plug it into your gaming device and let it do its thing. The iCush features universal audio input and speakers on both sides of the headrest that play music or video game sounds, with or without the vibrating mechanism. Integrated hand-controls let you adjust intensity, speed, and location of the vibration as well as the heat of the pad.

The iCush will be available this fall for a suggested retail price of $119.95. Another version, the MP3 iCush, will have just the massage features and sell for $49.99. 

Thanks to our intern, Errol Pierre-Louis, for this post!

Sounds like an energy drink, doesn't it?

In reality, when I talk of cell phone juice, I mean battery-powered, portable chargers. Of course, these type of devices aren't anything new. Back in February we talked about the Turbo Charge ($19.95) that charges your cell phone or PDA on the go. So, it doesn't surprise me that Energizer wants to play in the mobile-charging game, too.

Today, the company releases the Energizer Energi To Go: a portable device, powered by two Lithium AA batteries, that recharges many of today's cell phones using "a patented intelligent control chip that maximizes power transfer from the charger to the phone."

The company claims that after just 30 seconds of charging on the Energi To Go that a call can be made. Wow, that's pretty impressive! Sometimes I'll forget to charge my cell phone at night, and then have to save battery power for the important calls (you know, the ones from my bf). And then there are those times when I'll go away for the weekend and forget to bring a charger. So having a device such as this one would come in handy. Then again, it's not the end of the world for me if I do run out of cell juice. There are alternatives.

Phone tip connectors are available for about 100 phone models, including most from Nokia, Motorola, Sprint, and Samsung, even the BlackBerry.

The Energizer Energi To Go Cell Phone Charger will be available beginning September 1, 2006 for $19.99. The official Energi To Go Web site will launch on August 28.

Kids don't like to hear that their toys are "educational". Sure, they're smart enough to know the difference between a Nintendo GameCube system versus an XBox 360. But if you tell them that after purchasing the V.Flash Home Edutainment System you'll have money left over to buy them clothes for back to school, I'm sure they won't make a fuss! 

The VTech V.Flash Home Edutainment System, for ages 6 to 10, is an educational video game system that uses MP3-quality sound, streaming video, 3D graphics and real-life images to keep kids engaged while learning. Your kids will learn in many subjects, including mathematics, spelling and geography. Measuring 3.8-by-30.0-by-22.4, the console system includes a joystick and adaptor with the V.Disc "Krazy Race on Jumping Bean Island".

Just how popular are Vtech's edutainment products? According to the press release, in 2005 alone parents spent $1.7 billion. This year, parents are expected to invest an additional $2 billion on the new edutainment systems. "Many moms want to give their kids a video game system, but are worried about software that may include violence or inappropriate content for their kids...VTech is a brand they have come to trust for educational and non-violent game play."

You can beat the back-to-school rush by pre-ordering the VTech V.Flash Home Edutainment System at Walmart.com for $99.96.

[via press release]

Related Posts:

10 Strangest Back-to-School Gadgets & Gear
Back to School: Products That Make the Grade (Part I)
Back to School: Products That Make the Grade (Part II)
Back to School Shopping: 1986 vs 2006

Today, Griffin Technology announced the Hi-Way: a custom-fit carrying case for Apple's excellent iPod Hi-Fi stereo dock.

Made of ballistic Nylon, the Hi-Way is said to withstand bumps and bruises while you're on the road.

It also features:

• A soft inner lining
• Comfortable padded shoulder strap for easy toting
• Lots of pockets for iPod accessories
• Power cord pass-through lets you use Hi-Fi while it stays protected inside the case

The Griffin Hi-Way sells for $49.99 at griffintechnology.com and wherever iPod accessories are sold.

Here at Gearlog, we like to consider ourselves experts on the Bananaphone marketplace. After finding the foam Bananaphone covers, we dug deeper and found the real deal: an actual bananaphone headset for your cell phone. Yes, you too can look like an idiot and talk into a plastic imitation banana, for only about $20! Why go foam when you can rely on quality plastic?

I'm not sure how Raffi's awful bananaphone song became such a Web hit, but I still like the badger version best. The ASCII-art version is less complex and compelling. There are also various videos using the original, slower-tempo song, which sounds like Raffi's on 'ludes. (So what's new about that?) Try a live-action interpretation, a collection of Bananaphone videos from YouTube, and Dave Teatro's much darker version.

Oh - yeah, and there's a land line bananaphone, too.